Council for Tobacco Research
Deposition of Leonard Zahn in Massachusetts [Deposition of Leonard Zahn in Matter of Commonwealth of Massachusetts Vs. Philip Morris, Et Al.]
Fields
- Depository Date
- 10 Sep 1998
- Master ID
- 70000662-0965
- Author
- Zahn, L.
- Request
- 118
- Type
- TRANSCRIPT
- Box
- 282
- UCSF Legacy ID
- bxw30a00
Document Images
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
vs. Philip Morris, et al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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would please tell him in what context you knew
Dr. Homburger.
MR. SCHEINER: Objection.
BY MS. NIAL:
Q. Do you recall that question?
A. No, I do not.
Q. He says:
"In what context do you know
Dr." --
You began:
"In regard to his tobacco
research on esophageal or laryngeal cancer.°
And the next in question was:
"Tell me about that."
"Have you got an hour?"
"No, I've got one, but just give
me the bottom line."
And you answered:
"He was a grantee from
The Council for Tobacco Research for a number
of years and stopped being a grantee under
some, I suppose, unpleasant circumstances, at
which he made certain claims and was about to
make certain charges at a press conference at a
scientific meeting. I learned about it in
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
vs. Philip Morris, et al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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advance and arranged for the press conference
not to be held."
MR. SCHEINER: Objection.
BY MS. NIAL:
Q. Do you remember giving that
testimony?
MR. SCHEINER: Objection.
THE WITNESS: Yes.
BY MS. NIAL:
Q. That was true testimony at the
time you gave it, sir?
A. Yes.
Generally so, yes.
Q. I wonder if you could describe
to me, sir, what the unpleasant circumstances
were which you were speaking about when you
gave your testimony in 1996.
A. The fact that the -- a scientist
being supported by the client was going to make
a false claim which, if publicized and
believed, would in effect have meant that
The Council for Tobacco Research would be out
of business the following week.
Q. What was the false claim that
Dr. Homburger was going to make?
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
vs. Philip Morris, et al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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A. I should say allegedly.
I was told that he was going to
claim that the Council was seeking to suppress
or censor his findings in which he was exposing
animals, hamsters, to cigarette smoke.
Q. When you were told that this was
what Dr. Homburger was going to do, did you
personally contact Dr. Homburger to discuss the
matter with him?
A. No, I did not.
Q. So how did you know that these
were claims that he was actually going to make?
A. Because the person in charge of
press relations for a pathology organization,
association, at which he was going to make
these claims told me he had called her, and
this is what he -- or she had called him; I
don't remember which, and that this was what he
was going to say, and could he have a press
conference to make these charges.
Q. Did you investigate these
charges to determine whether or not they were
true?
A. Well, I believe the person who
told me that this is what he told her -- I
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
vs. Philip Morris, et al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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believe there was not any doubt whatsoever.
Q. I'm sorry. I think we've
miscommunicated.
I wasn't asking if you believed
the person who told you he was going to make
those charges, that he told her that.
But rather, whether or not you
did any investigation to determine whether or
not the charges that this person told you he
was going to make were true.
A. Yes.
MR. PUTZEL: You mean whether
his substantive findings were true?
MS. NIAL: No.
BY MS. NIAL:
Q. Whether or not the charges he
was going to make were true.
A. Yes, in this sense:
Several weeks prior to the date
of this meeting, I got copies of correspondence
between -- as I recall, mostly between
Dr. Hockett and Dr. Homburger about a paper
Dr. Homburger was proposing to give at this
pathology meeting.
And I had, of course, known
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
vs. Philip Morris, et al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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about Dr. Homburger for a number of years, and
I was just concerned that -- from some of the
statements in these letters, that he might do
anything at this meeting.
I certainly at that time had no
idea he was going to make these claims, or the
claim about suppression or censorship that I
mentioned a moment ago.
I had no idea then that he was
going to do that.
But from what I knew about him,
I will use a trite phrase: "Anything could
come from him."
And that, I suppose, is not an
investigation, but that was support for my
feeling that he could say anything.
Q. Did you talk to the people that
he alleged were attempting to suppress his
research?
A. No -- yes.
I talked with Dr. Hockett, of
course.
Q. What did Dr. Hockett tell you
about Dr. Homburger's charges?
A. Well, Bob Hockett doesn't censor
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
vs. Philip Morris, ct al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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and doesn't suppress.
CTR does not, never did, because
even if anybody was stupid enough to begin to
do something like that, it would be fatal for
the Council.
It would be a death blow.
Q. Since these charges were not
true, why did you not let Dr. Homburger state
these charges and then have The Council for
Tobacco Research show the public that this was
untrue?
MR. SCHEINER: Objection.
THE WITNESS: Read back to her
what she said, please.
I think I misunderstood you or
you misstated.
MS. NIAL: Okay.
(Record Read.)
THE WITNESS: That would have
been a very dumb thing on my part.
BY MS. NIAL:
Q. So you wanted to stop what he
had to say so that the public would not hear
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
vs. Philip Morris, ct al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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it?
MR. SCHEINER: Objection.
MR. PUTZEL: Objection.
BY MS. NIAL:
Q. You can answer the question.
A. Yeah, in a sense, I did.
And I was prepared to do what
you had just suggested, to have the Council
speak after the fact, which is not a good thing
to do, in my view, in a situation of this kind.
You would not want to do that;
when somebody tells you that a man has a gun
that he might use, "Let him use the gun first
and then we'll get him."
Q. So you would compare
Dr. Homburger making charges about suppression
of scientific research by The Council for
Tobacco Research to a man with a gun?
A. Oh, no.
MR. SCHEINER: Objection.
THE WITNESS: You understand
what I mean.
I don't think you have to bring
it to that degree.
But it's a somewhat similar
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

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vs. Philip Morris, et al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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thing; not the degree, but the principle, I
think, is the same thing.
This would have been a very
serious charge, and in my experience in public
relations, the most difficult thing in the
world to do when you are in a crisis is to
catch up to a charge to try to get your
explanation in.
If you are lucky, you get a
little bit in, but nobody pays much attention
to it.
It's the sensationalism that
attracts all the attention, and that's what
would have happened in this case.
BY MS. NIAL:
Q. What efforts did you make to
arrange for the press conference not to be
held?
A. When I learned that this was
happening from the communications -- or the
public information director of the pathology
association -- her name was Mrs. Graves; I may
have to use that name in my explanation.
I called Mr. Hoyt --
This was in Atlantic City.
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
vs. Philip Morris, et al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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I called Mr. Hoyt and told him
what was being planned; I was going to draft a
press release and then call him back and get
approval to use it, if this press conference
came off and Homburger did what he said he was
going to do.
I did those things.
Then I called Mrs. Graves again,
told her I had drafted a press release, and
the press release was going to say one, two,
three, four, five things -- I don't remember
how many, about Dr. Homburger and his research
and his relationship with CTR.
I also suggested to her that
I was sure that members of the board of
directors of her association knew
Dr. Homburger, and that maybe she might want to
discuss this with them to get their views of
Dr. Homburger.
She either called me back in an
hour or two, or I called her. I don't
remember.
She told me that she had talked
with people on her board, and they agreed that
Homburger was, in effect, not to be trusted--he
7ane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730

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vs. Philip Morris, et al.
Leonard Zahn - May 28, 1998
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was an entrepreneur; he was an operator, a
scientific operator--and that maybe there
should not be a press conference to give him
this kind of exposure with this kind of a
charge, that he could not substantiate it all.
Q. Did Mr. Hoyt approve of your
attempts, your successful attempts -- they were
more than attempts -- your successful efforts
to stop the press conference from being held?
A. I doubt if he knew about it
until after the fact.
Although at that time I didn't
know it would be stopped, but it was; I was
pretty sure at the time it would be.
But he approved of whatever I
had drafted in the way of a press release; I
read it to him on the phone.
Q. How long had Dr. Homburger been
receiving funds from CTR prior to this
incident?
A. Oh, I can't recall the exact
time, but it was for a number of years.
Q. Were there any complaints during
that period of time, as far as you know, about
Dr. Homburger's work?
Jane Rose Reporting Offices in New York and Minneapolis
Phone: 1-800-825-3341 Fax: 1-212-486-5730
